The American Tobacco Trail, Chatham County, Durham County & Wake County, North Carolina

Award > The American Tobacco is one of North Carolina's National Millennium Trails, as designated by the White House. The project is also the first designated leg of the 300-mile East Coast Greenway, North Carolina section.

Project Description > Greenways Incorporated was the
principal planner, project researcher and coordinator for the American Tocbacco Trail. This 30-mile inactive Norfolk-Southern railroad corridor begins in downtown Durham and traverses urban, suburban, and rural landscapes along its route to Jordan Lake and the Town of Bonsal, North Carolina. During a 9-month process in 1991 and 1992, Greenways Incorporated worked with local citizens; and the non-profit Triangle Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a multi-agency regional management team to prepare a master plan for this rails-to-trails project. Our work included researching corridor history and ownership, conducting a thorough inventory and analysis of the corridor, identifying problem areas and issues of concern, preparing recommendations for conflict resolution, developing comprehensive management plan for a public use facility traversing 3 counties and 3 municipal jurisdictions, and preparing a design development plan for conversion of the corridor into a multiple-use trail.

This aerial photo of the completed first phase of the American Tobacco Trail was taken in 2000. The view is toward downtown Durham and the Durham Bulls Athletic
Park.